Trick or Treat

I didn't get to go trick or treating with Charlotte last year because of my teaching schedule. I was really disappointed. So, of course I was terribly excited to take her out this year. Lucky me, she wanted to wear the same costume as last year and it still fit. She was talking about going trick or treating "with mommy" all day, so I think she was pretty jazzed, too. Philippe is in Germany for business, so he missed out this year. These pictures are for you, Diddy!

Charlotte is dressed as a "bubba doctor" (Bubba is Charlotte's bear and also the generic affectionate term she uses for all bears), sporting Children's Memorial Hospital scrubs given to her by friends at the Children's Memorial Foundation just before her second heart surgery. (No, I can't resist a plug for the hospital! That's a link to the online donation form for the Children's Service Board.)

Hitting up the neighbors with her buddy Taylor. Yes, Charlotte is VERY tall, but T is about 8 months younger and no shrimp herself!

We headed out in Lincoln Square with Charlotte's buddy Taylor. The girls were very excited to go to each house and get more candy, but not so sure about knocking on the doors by themselves.

At around 6 p.m. Charlotte had a meltdown about wanting to get on with it and go to more houses for more candy. I quickly realized that it was a dinnertime meltdown so I had to cut our afternoon with friends short and drag the poor thing home. It was not my best mom moment, involving yelling at her in public and dragging her (literally) back to the car. By the time we got home, all was well and we hit two neighbors' homes en route to dinner. Charlotte was very excited to see our neighbor's dog dressed as a pumpkin, but she is still talking about how she didn't really like the skull with moving eyes in our next door neighbors' candy bowl.

She was practically too tired to eat dinner (but not to eat candy!). Dinner took forever because Charlotte stopped to yell "Happy Halloween!" and "You're welcome!" to all of the Trick or Treaters who came to our house while she was eating.

When Charlotte finally went to sleep, I recovered with our traditional Halloween treat--cocktails on the front porch with our favorite neighbors, Richard, Cynthia, and Marcy. It's the one time a year I see Marcy. We had some serious fun involving a radio-activated rat and gals walking to the neighborhood bars.

I think she's a bit sad to see all the Halloween decorations come down. She's been enjoying all the different spiders in the neighborhood!

Feeding Clinic Visit

Charlotte with her favorite monster last Sunday. She's still talking about her celebrity encounter!

Charlotte and I visited Sara, her dietician, at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin today. Charlotte's "official" CHOW weight was 15.3 k, or precisely what it was back in June. While her vertical growth (she's up to 3 feet 5.75 inches) is steady, Sara is a tad concerned that her weight gain is flat. Charlotte has gone from 94% ideal weight for height to 90% ideal weight for height.

Charlotte did have 3 ear infections in about 6 weeks (August through September), followed by a 24-hour "summer fever," all of which dampened her appetite in the past two months.

I'm hoping that now that she's healthy (save for a sniffly nose), she'll start chowing down again. But, we're back to needing to be vigilant about caloric intake, adding calories where we can, and worrying about food and weight.

On the bright side:

• We don't have to worry about reflux. Even with her last ear infection and her current runny nose, we've not seen any gagging or vomiting.
• She is in the 97th percentile for height for her age (not quite 3 1/2). To put it another way, she's average for a 4 year old (and in our experience, she's as tall or taller than most 4 year olds we know!).
• Sara loved the broad range of foods Charlotte will try or will eat.
  

Opthamology Update

On a tire swing during a family trip to the park last Sunday. She spun so much that she wobbled for some time when she got off. And giggled, of course.

Charlotte saw her eye doctor today. She really hated the flashlight shining in her eyes and she hated the eyedrops even more. But everything looks good for now. Her prescription hasn't changed and Dr. Z. seemed happy. We go back in 6 months.

After Charlotte's appointment we crossed the street to quickly get a flu shot and a blood test for me at the office of Dr. Gale, the doctor who brought Charlotte into the world. Charlotte payed rapt attention while my blood was drawn; her biggest concern was that I shouldn't need a bandaid (she hates bandaids). Dr. Gale was so excited to see Charlotte. I think the last time she saw Charlotte was nearly 2 years ago. And, Charlotte was excited to learn that Dr. Gale knows Dr. Z. You see, everyone knows Dr. Z!!